WASHINGTON (AP) – The Rev. James L. Bevel, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement whose legacy was clouded by an incest conviction has died, a relative said. He was 72.
Bevel died Friday in Virginia after a fight with pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Chevara Orrin, who lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year prison sentence.
Bevel was a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and architect of the 1963 Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama. But in April, a jury convicted Bevel of incest for having sex more than a decade ago with a then-teenage daughter.
Bevel served several months of his 15-year sentence before he was released in November on bond while appealing. Prosecutors opposed Bevel’s release.
A Baptist minister, Bevel was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, two of the stalwart organizations that led efforts in the 1960s to desegregate the South. Decades later, he also helped organize the Million Man March.
“Jim Bevel was Martin Luther King’s most influential aide,” civil rights historian David J. Garrow said.
Bevel fought to desegregate downtown Birmingham stores, prompting police to respond with fire hoses and attack dogs against peaceful protesters. He also rallied young people in the city to get involved in civil rights demonstrations _ something King and other advisers objected to.
